This invention is broadly directed to a method and apparatus to store and display pregnancy related data.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to the health care field and the fields of data storage, calculation, and display. More particularly, the invention relates to the storage and processing of pregnancy related data, and display of up-to-date information concerning fetal development.
2. Description of Related Art
A woman's peace of mind regarding her pregnancy helps maintain her health and the health of the unborn child. Peace of mind can be increased by informing the expectant woman of factual information concerning her current stage of pregnancy and informing her of recent developments of her fetus.
Currently, expectant parents must go through the inconvenience of making an appointment with their physician if they wish to learn of the stage of their fetus' development or need general information concerning pregnancy. This creates some anxiety for the expectant parents as they await feedback from the physician. Additionally, the costs of health care are increased as physicians must perform extra work in retrieving, compiling, and explaining the information sought by the parents.
While there are devices currently available that provide generic data storage, calculation, and retrieval, none address the needs of pregnant women. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,380, to Levine. This patent is directed to an electronic daytimer. Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,290, to Ventimiglia et al., describes a watch that stores and displays personal medical information. Other U.S. patents in the prior art include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,839 to Hirayama; U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,996 to Schmitz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,229 to Lennon et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,494 to Lynch; U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,429 to Wood et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,682 to Asano et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,760 to Yagi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,783 to Nishimuro et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,159 to Tomoda et al.
The devices of the prior art work as either generic calculators, electronic schedulers or portable data storage and retrieval devices. The disadvantage of these devices is that they are not specifically geared to address the needs of pregnant women, or any person who wants to know the stage of a fetus' development.
The prior art devices are not pre-programmed to store pregnancy related information, nor to provide fetal development data at the touch of a button. The devices are not convenient and are unable to give a pregnant woman the peace of mind that a device specifically designed for her could provide. The devices in use in the prior art are not tailored for individual women.
The current methods of obtaining pregnancy information require the intervention of a physician, and therefore increases the costs of health care.
What is needed is a device addressed to the specific needs of expectant parents or other interested persons that will allow them to conveniently check on the stage of the fetus' development and on the stage of the expectant mother's pregnancy.
What is needed is to provide the ability to customize this device with information specific to the expectant mother, thereby increasing the accuracy of the device and providing the capability of reusing the device.
What is needed is to decrease the cost of health care by reducing the workload on the obstetrician's office.